


Unstable Structure

by limitedpractice



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Humor, Humour, Jenga, Silly, and one human one, and was just a fun excuse to write my favourites interacting, bots playing games, everyone else is missing out, no-one quite knows how these three formed a team together, probably because everyone else was taken, sfw, so it's not one hundred per cent sfw, sunder is trying his best weird, they're all wonderful, this story is not serious, well there's a few cybertronian swear words, writing all their dialogue was especially fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22457719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limitedpractice/pseuds/limitedpractice
Summary: Sunder, Ambulon and Hubcap play Jenga, and it goes as well as you'd expect.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	Unstable Structure

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking with jet-teeth about [this post](https://jet-teeth.tumblr.com/post/190467330915/starstruckswordsmech-autobots-the-reason-why) and I got such a clear image of Intense Sunder on the left, Horrified Hubcap on the right and Fed-Up Ambulon in the middle that I had to write something about it. 
> 
> And all my thanks to jet-teeth for drawing such fantastic art of it!! LOOK AT ALL THEIR FACES I LOVE THEM THEY'RE PERFECT

Ambulon looked balefully at the tower of rectangular wooden blocks on the table in front of him. “Remind me why we have to play this again?”

“Well,” Hubcap said slowly, “It’s because Swerve- you know, the owner of the bar we’re all in? The metallurgist that likes Earth a lot?”

“I’m well aware of who our alt-mode curious barkeep is.”

“Ha, yeah, right. So. This is one of his favourite games and- and I think it was his birthday the other day and he wanted us all to celebrate it with him, so he told us to get into teams so we could play it together? In teams and compete with one another? Or maybe it was the anniversary of his bar opening. Or was it because it was the beginning of the week and he liked the name of the day?”

Ambulon tipped his head back and stared at the stained ceiling.

**> he desires the company of others because he is lonely.**

Sunder lent forward over the table and looked intently at the stack of blocks he’d finished building.

**> there is a gaping chasm of nothingness circling his spark, and he’s sacred that it will pull him into its black depths and drown him by soft degrees. But he should not fear the darkness. He should learn to embrace it. He should learn how to hold it close and kiss it with the softness it deserves.**

Ambulon swiveled his eyes to his teammate on his right. 

Sunder’s hollow eye sockets bored into Ambulon’s face. 

**> you are never lonely in the dark. **

Ambulon swiveled his eyes to his teammate on his left. 

“Remind me why I got stuck on this table again?”

“That’s…” Hubcap bristled. “I don’t think you’re one to talk. Much.” 

Ambulon raised his head and sat up straight. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Out of everyone on this table you’re, well, the only Decepticon. Ex-Decepticon. Teamwork isn’t exactly your, uh, strength.” 

Ambulon lent forward and pointed a sharp finger at Hubcap’s Autobot badge. “Out of everyone on this table, I’m the only one who hasn’t murdered someone I worked with.” 

“That’s-…true. So. Well. Right.” Hubcap grimaced. “Sorry. Um. Didn’t mean to cause offence there, and-” 

“Yes you did.”

**> yes you did.**

“Look, can we just play? Please? I-…the two of you are looking at me and…and you haven’t even gone yet Sunder. You need to take your turn first because you built the tower.” 

**> the first to make their move is ahead of those who allow the insidious vines of doubt and decay to wrap their oily lengths around them and s q u e e z e out the light that never had a chance to breed.**

“So…you’re thinking about it?” 

Streams of dark air vented out of Sunder’s facial pipes and hung heavily around him, like a halo of corrupted smoke. 

**> I am not like the others.**

Hubcap and Ambulon exchanged a look. 

**> I was born to build by taking away.**

“Alright,” Ambulon said, in the weary tone of voice he used with a patient who thought they knew better but didn’t. “Let’s get this show on the road. If I lose to First Aid’s table then I’ve got deep cleaning duty for a month and I do not, I repeat do not, want that. So take a block away Sunder and let’s get going. Let’s get building. Let’s get winning!” 

Ambulon looked at Hubcap. “See, I can be a team player. I am a team player.” 

Hubcap’s eyes fixated on the peeling paint on Ambulon’s thumbs up. “…uh-huh. 

“I was part of a combiner you know. I’m the very definition of a team player, so don’t accuse me of not being one again.” 

“I won’t.” 

“I know what it’s like to not be supported or appreciated, and I won’t do that to others. I won’t do it to you, my teammates, who I trust and respect and- SUNDER YOU SLAGGING MORON WHAT THE FRAG DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T DO THAT YOU’LL- OH SHIT YOU JUST DID IT, YOU JUST DID IT.” 

Ambulon covered his eyes and Hubcap looked at the Jenga stack in horror.

One of Sunder’s needle tipped fingers was pushing a block at the very bottom.

“Why?” Hubcap whispered. 

**> it is burdened by the sins of those crushing it from above. I am here to relieve its suffering.**

Ambulon dragged his fingers down his face. “We’ve lost. That’s it, we’ve lost. I’ve now got deep cleaning duty for a month thanks to you, you idiot.” 

Sunder tilted his head and looked at Ambulon in a way that lowered the room’s temperature by ten degrees. 

Several bots dotted around the room shivered and looked around in confusion. 

Ambulon glared right back at Sunder. “Don’t think you can intimidate me you self-important smoke stack, because you can’t. I was a Decepticon medic don’t forget. A Decepticon. _Medic_. I’ve seen things that would make your eyes jump back into your sockets and fall out again. In fact they’d melt out of your face. They’d run down your front and stain your plating and seep into your vents and cause a build-up of optical rust that would require seven separate surgeries to fix. And I know all of this because it happened to a senior ‘Con who’s name I won’t mention, and because I assisted with surgeries two, three and four and took charge of number six.” 

**> the blocks are screaming. **

Ambulon shook his head and Hubcap twisted his fingers together. 

“I’m going to scream,” Ambulon said. “I’m going to scream out loud.” 

“I’m going to scream silently,” Hubcap said. “Very silently and very loudly inside my head. If that makes sense. Ha. I don’t want to make too much of a scene.” 

Ambulon gave him a curious sort of look. “Yeah you can do that, can’t you? Make things happen just by thinking about them?” 

“Well it’s not- ha, it’s not that straightforward. I mean it’s easy for me to block or boost a signal because it’s part of who I am and comes as easily as breathing. Not that we breathe anyway, since we don’t have lungs and aren’t exposed to an oxygen rich atmosphere a lot of the time, and I just mean that as an Outlier I can do the things that…yeah.” 

Ambulon tapped a world weary finger on top of the table. “As eloquent as ever, thank you.” 

Hubcap’s blue eyes darkened. “What’s your problem?” 

“What’s my problem? You want to know what my problem is? My problem is you and him and being on the losing team for this stupid game I didn’t want to play in the first place.” 

“That’s more than one problem.” 

“Have you always been the most popular bot in the room, or is this a recent development?” 

**> quiet. Both of you. I can’t hear the blocks. **

“Because they’re talking to you?” Ambulon asked flatly. “Because they’re whispering sweet words of longing into your ear and begging for your tender touch?” 

**> you can hear them too? **

“For the love of-” 

“You could, ah, move that block back?” Hubcap suggested. “And choose another one?” 

**> no.**

“Right. No. Of course not. But.” 

**> there is no space for doubt or time to dwell on it. It is a deceitful trick, and we must ignore it. We are moving forward, and cannot look back.**

Sunder pushed the block a tiny bit more. The entire structure wobbled. 

“You can’t look at it anyway,” Ambulon said, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. “since you don’t have any eyes.” 

Sunder made a noise that could dissolve metal and evaporate acid. 

“Hey,” Ambulon said, looking sharply at Hubcap, who involuntarily flinched. “You could use you mind moving powers! Push that block back into place where it belongs, and allow needle-fingers here to rethink one of his life choices and to do the right thing. 

“Woah! That, urr, might be…” Hubcap glanced around nervously and lowered his voice to a hissing whisper. “Against the rules. It might be cheating. You want me to cheat?”

“Show me where it says so in the rules.” 

“I, ha, judging by the tone of your voice already know you know it’s not in the rule book, but- but we shouldn’t do it. I won’t do it. It’s wrong.” 

“It’s wrong of me to suffer deep cleaning duty because of the two of you.” 

“How is this my fault?” As always when he got pissed off and geared himself up to deliver a speech, Hubcap’s voice thickened and steadied and all his self-doubt and stuttering vanished. “I didn’t build the structure and didn’t make the first move, Sunder did. I didn’t even get the chance to build the structure and, depending on your outlook, therefore be awarded or burdened with the first move. I’m not at fault here! I’m innocent! I’m just trying my best to do the right thing and get into the spirit of the evening and I keep getting dragged down by your miserable attitude and I won’t, I _won’t_ , be sent to prison again for committing the crime of cheating! It’s fair enough I got a long sentence because I was a traitor and a killer and was one push of a button away from re-starting the war, but I won’t go back to that modified solitary containment cell with no windows and bad smells just because you don’t want to do some cleaning in what sounds like a filthy medical facility!” 

Sunder trapped his tongue between his teeth in concentration and pushed the bottom block out further. 

“Are you done?” Ambulon asked Hubcap flatly. “Have you got all that out of your system now? Or are you going to work yourself up even more and have a spark attack and short circuit all the electrics and turn off the ship’s anti-gravity pumps?” 

“No,” Hubcap sulked. 

Ambulon’s face lightened. “Because if you did, then we wouldn’t have to play anymore! Every structure would get knocked over in the dark or come apart and fly away!” 

“You do…know that’s still cheating, don’t you? Or do I need to edit my speech and deliver it again?” 

**> the cold shadow is almost lifted and our friend is nearly free.**

Sunder poked his chosen block again, and the entire tower shifted. 

Ambulon sighed. 

“And it doesn’t work like that,” Hubcap continued, not quite ready and not quite willing to wind himself back down. “I can’t manipulate an electromagnetic signal unless I’ve been in contact with it first. And I haven’t had cause to study and absorb the ship’s gravitational system, so. No.” 

“What about the lights?” 

“What about them?” 

“Could you turn them off?” 

“I…yes. That would be an easy block. But I’m not going to.” 

“You could say it was an accident,” Ambulon pressed him. By now First Aid had seen the state of Ambulon’s table and was pointing and laughing at him. “You’ve blocked things by accident before, right?” 

“I…yeah. Yeah I have.” 

“Like what?”

**> like what?**

Hubcap blinked at the sudden interest from both of them.

“Uh, well, this one time I…accidentally blocked the signal to an energon refueling system and, um, racked up a six figure repair bill for it.”

“Why?”

**> how?**

“Ha, that- well I was, um, in my room one morning and…having a good time and…finished, and…”

“Please stop.”

**> who were you with?**

“Both of you can just stop.” 

“Uh, just myself. Yeah. It was intense.” 

Sunder leaned forward in interest. 

**> what exactly were you doing?**

“I’m not going to say this again.” Ambulon said, raising his voice. “I’m not! And I don’t want to. So for one last time just Stop. Both of you. Let’s veer away from this unpleasant diversion and focus on this stupid game instead.”

“Oh,” Hubcap said, his eyes narrowing in his flushed face, “I see. You’re only interested in this stupid game when it suits you, and when you want me to shut up. That’s rude. And unprofessional. I have nothing to be ashamed about!”

“Except you clearly are.”

“Yes, well, that’s my choice. Sort of. The point is that you shouldn’t make someone uncomfortable for something that happens naturally to their body. I thought you were a medic? And that you’ve seen things no mortal bot should ever have to see?” 

“Seeing is far better than imagining, believe me,” Ambulon said. “And just because I can cope with something doesn’t mean I want to expose myself to it.”

**> talking of exposing…**

The tower trembled and tilted as Sunder continued to push the center bottom block out.

**> look. It’s nearly free.**

“And we’ve nearly lost.” 

“Yeah,” Hubcap agreed miserably. 

Ambulon and Hubcap watched in shared fatalism as Sunder pushed the block further and further out, and the tower tilted and trembled more and more and more. But didn’t fall. It didn’t collapse. The block was sliding out and against all odds the structure was holding. 

They both lifted themselves up from their seats and braced themselves on the table with flat splayed hands, and watched the miracle unfold in front of them with wide eyes and open mouths. 

They were going to win. 

Despite everything, they were going to win. Sunder was going to do the impossible and build the magnificent and not lose and they’d all be hailed as heroes and- 

_SMASH!_

The tower collapsed instantly.

Sunder plucked out his chosen block from the pile of rubble. 

**> you’re free now.**

Ambulon and Hubcap slumped back into their seats. 

“That was terrible,” Ambulon muttered. 

“It was a very poor choice,” Hubcap agreed. 

First Aid made a loud noise, and once he got Ambulon’s attention, he made mopping and sweeping and cleaning and vomiting gestures. Pharma laughed out loud and Ratchet rolled his eyes. 

Ambulon glanced down at the table. 

“I, err,” Hubcap began. “Sorry you have to do that. Go back to them. I know what it’s like to do something you don’t want to do in front of people you don’t want to be watching.” 

“Whatever. It’s fine.” 

“I’ll help you.” 

Ambulon looked up and narrowed his golden eyes, which were now burning brighter. “You don’t have to do that. I’ve already lost one bet, and I don’t want to be in debt to another person.” 

“It’s unconditional. I just…want to. For a teammate. For you.” 

A flurry of emotions blew across Ambulon’s face. “OK.” He looked down and away and back up. “Thank you.” 

Hubcap nodded. “And if…something gets blocked, like the codes to Pharma’s favourite food and drink orders out of every single dispenser machine there is, then, well, accidents do happen.” 

Ambulon smiled, and the flurry settled warmly. “Many accidents happen on this ship. It’s a chaotic place at times.” 

Hubcap nodded again. “So do we…start work now?” 

“Hell no.” Ambulon stood up and pushed his chair back. “We drink now. We’re the first team out of this contest, which means we get the pick of seats and don’t have to wait to be served. Let’s get that table over there and start a tab.” 

Hubcap stood up as well, and neatly pushed his chair back under the table. 

Sunder looked up at them, and a shadow crawled across his sunken face.

**> you are both going. You are both leaving me in the debris of my unexpected failure.**

Ambulon tutted. “Stop sulking. We’re going to the table and you’re going to the bar to start the tab. You’re buying all of our drinks tonight.” 

Sunder stood up and smiled a smile that could carve through planets.

**> what do you enjoy consuming, my medic friend?**

“The tears of my enemies.” 

**> me too.**

“I thought you were more into memories and the reeking remnants of brain modules?” 

**> I enjoy variety every now and again.**

“Fair play to you. Come on team, let’s retire and drink and pass amusing judgement on others who think they know better.” 

**> agreed.**

“Hell yes. I mean heck yes. I mean-” 

“And you’re buying the drinks the next time we play a group game and lose within seconds.” 

“Agreed,” Hubcap said immediately. “But…” 

“But that implies we’re going to lose again?” Ambulon supplied. 

“But that…implies you want us both as your teammates again.” 

Sunder took Ambulon’s hand, opened it, put the chosen block in his palm, and carefully wrapped his fingers around it to form a fist. 

**> a memento of our first time together.**

Ambulon glanced down at his fist. The small wooden block felt warm within in. “Thanks. I think.” 

**> you are welcome.**

“Yeah. Yeah I guess I am.”


End file.
